Acceleration
by Mya Latti
Summary: Jet teased him so much about really being the fastest thing alive so often that, to be honest, Sonic was quite fed up with it. — set in Free Riders. Entry for The Moonstar9's writing contest!


I must really like the letter A, most of my stories start with it.

Oooookay, this is my entry for the second round of **The Moonstar9's **writing contest. This round had to be humour, and I suck at jokes so I present you my probably not very funny story. It's set in Sonic Free Riders, where all the characters get together to compete in the World Grand Prix. So that's what's happening at the moment.

As a matter of fact, this was inspired by a Youtube comment I read :'D I love Jet though, despite him being such a jerk. I hope they're in character too, it's unlike Sonic to get angry, but I read that he gets very annoyed when people insult his speed. Plus, there's probably a lot more going on in his head than he lets on!

HAPPY EASTER!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sonic in any way, shape or form.

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**Acceleration.**

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"On your gear!" The starter shouted, raising his flag in the air. Sonic grinned and jumped onto said gear, glancing around as he did so. Tails and Knuckles were next to him - the former was looking a little nervous, competitive racing wasn't his favourite thing and he would have much preferred just to tinker with their gears but teams had to have three members and due to this Sonic had roped him in. The latter on the other hand was staring out at the track with a firm determination, he was so intent on beating Storm and didn't care about much else.

"We'll see who the fastest thing alive is now," Jet taunted from behind him, turning his grin into a scowl. While his rival did genuinely want to beat him, the hawk also knew that teasing him about his speed would wind him up and thus throw him off his game a little. He wasn't one to get annoyed easily (and he liked to pride himself on that fact), but Jet could be seriously irritating and coupled with the constant insults he always found himself riled up when he was around the other.

Which, you know, was probably exactly what Jet wanted. So instead he directed his focus to the starter, awaiting the instructions to begin. And while concentration wasn't his best trait, he _could _get serious if he needed to, and right now he did.

"Go!" They all shot off, leaving behind the few competitors that had gotten hasty and kickdashed too early resulting in getting caught in that awful electric barrier. Within moments they had travelled thousands of metres, zooming around corners and jumping off the ramps. The track wasn't exactly hard, it was one of their first races after all so they'd yet to crank up the difficulty, but keeping an eye on Jet certainly was.

He leant forward to increase his speed, narrowing his eyes at the bird mocking him. He wouldn't have minded coming second or even third in any other Extreme Gear race (he didn't practice that often and much preferred to run), but it was just when he was against _Jet _that he _had _to win. If he didn't, he'd never hear the end of it from him and his team mates and the embarrassment of that was something he had to avoid at all costs. They were neck and neck, but that could change at any moment and if anyone knew the importance and versatility of speed, it was Sonic.

He looked back quickly to the other racers, they were way ahead of everyone else and he could see Tails waving to him in the distance. He smiled back, feeling a sudden surge of pride for the young fox. Besides Cream, he was the youngest competitor here and was doing a remarkable job at keeping up with everyone. Heck, from here it looked like he was coming third or forth! Knuckles wasn't far behind Tails and he seemed to be constantly changing places with Storm. As much as he supported his team, he couldn't help but laugh at this, Knuckles was going to be so mad later on.

He watched Jet out the corner of his eye, and the other growled at him. He obviously was equally annoyed with the situation, which was comforting to Sonic in a strange way. He turned himself slightly to push his gear around a corner, clearing it easily. Despite getting around it, he'd unfortunately gone a little too far out and Jet had managed to get around tighter, giving him the lead. He was only ahead by a few metres, but that was enough to boost the hawk's confidence and make him turn around and tease his rival.

"Still can't beat me?" He poked out his tongue.

"I'm just letting you win," He replied with a forced laugh. He wasn't sure if it Jet had fallen for it, but it caused him to slow down so he was going the same speed once more with him and placed his hands on his hips, guiding the gear around another corner effortlessly. It wasn't really fair that they were each other's rivals, Sonic thought, the avian had been riding Extreme Gear most of his life while he had only picked it up a year or so ago, yet here they were.

"Is that so?" He smirked. "Well then, try and catch up to me," He kicked the ground and shot off way ahead.

And that was the last straw for him. He jumped off his gear, placed it under his arm and ran forward using his _legs_. He'd show Jet he didn't need some piece of technology to make him fast, he could do it all by himself. Within seconds he'd passed the hawk who was left trailing behind him, yelling things that he couldn't quite make out. This made him grin, running was _way _better than any other mode of transportation and now Jet would see that he _was _faster, because hey, he'd never specifically specified being the fastest on _Extreme Gear, _had he?

"You're too slow!" He yelled, bursting into _real _laughter just due to the sheer jubilation of running again. His team had been so hung up on practicing on their gears since they'd arrived at the Grand Prix that he hadn't realised just how much he'd missed it. He pushed on, drifting around corners and occasionally grinding along the metal bars lining the edges of the course. Now _this _is what he called fun! The ramps were a little too high for just regular running and jumping as they were designed for the gears after all, but he landed relatively safely (only hurting his ankles a little).

He could see the finish line just ahead so he moved faster, shattering that familiar invisible barrier just as he crossed it. He skidded to a stop, grinning like crazy and telling himself he would _never _go a couple of days without running again. He tossed his gear down and the official judge looked down at it and then up at him in contempt, he just shrugged in response. He'd beaten Jet, that's all that mattered.

It took twenty seconds or so for said guy to cross the finish line, and he wasn't looking happy when he did so. The other competitors soon followed, Tails coming in third and Knuckles fifth (he hadn't beaten Storm, and that's all they heard about that evening). But while Sonic was still relishing his unorthodox victory, his team mates weren't so thrilled about it.

"Sonic, what did you do?" Tails sighed. "You know, we're probably disqualified for that,"

"Yeah, what the hell? You cost us a victory, man!" Knuckles backed the kit up, raising his fist.

"I had to beat Jet, didn't I?" He chuckled, unaffected by their hostility. "And well, he was being a real jerk about it, so I...ran," The more he thought about it, he probably did stuff up their race and he should have considered the team aspect, but he didn't regret it. Jet had had it coming the whole time, definitely worth it. _But _he couldn't let his personal grudge get in the way anymore, he wouldn't do it again lest he wanted to lose the support of Tails and Knuckles.

"You only won because I wasn't expecting you to jump off your gear," That familiar voice echoed behind him and he spun around to find said rival. "If I'd been prepared then I totally would have come first,"

"Whatever," He waved off his remark with his hand but took a deep breath anyway, trying to quell the annoyance that was starting to rise again. "Okay Jet, let's have a leg race then," He heard Tails shout _'Leg race?' _behind him in a tone that would be best when saying the word _'seriously?' _and he blinked slowly, realising his mistake. "I mean a running race, then we'll see who's really the fastest!"


End file.
